by J. N. Colon
Her eyes darkened. “Bringing your koulèvkay out to play? I’ll make sure to cut his head off and skin him. His corpse will make a nice bokol.”
Power pulsed from Etie. I wasn’t sure who her words angered more, Etie or the snake.
A keening erupted, and the doors blew open. An imposing figure stalked in, dark eyes narrowing on Mama CeCe. “I think someone’s gotten too big for their britches.” Dark power undulated around Etie’s father.
The priestess’s head tilted back, rolls of laughter encircling us. “This is rich.” She jerked her pointed chin toward Henri. “You come to save your boy from big bad me?” She shook her head, swaying her long midnight braids. “How sweet.”
A sneer curled Henri’s lips. “It’s going to be sweet when I cut the stiria talisman from your body and you turn to dust, you old hag.”
My brow arched. How old was she? Did her power come from her age?
His threat halted Mama CeCe in her tracks. “I see you’re still as evil as they come, Henri.” Her gaze flicked toward Etie. “Don’t trust your papa. He was born dark, and he’ll always be that way. Ain’t nothing going to change that.”
Etie ignored her warning. “Let’s get out of here.” His eyes narrowed on the female voodoo caster. “If you say one word about my alimèt to anyone, I’ll cut your tongue out. And I don’t even need to be in the same room to do it.”
Well, that was a pleasant goodbye.
Etie turned and ushered me outside, Lucas and Henri following close behind. Tension swirled through the darkened street as he pulled me along, his hand pulsating and hot in mine. If he held on any tighter, our bones would fuse together.
“What is the matter with you?” Henri’s angry voice stopped us.
Etie’s hard glare rested on Lucas. “I was trying to figure out the same thing.”
“I ain’t talking about him, boy,” Henri spat. “I’m referring to you.”
Etie dropped my hand and whirled around, facing his father. “Me? I’m not the one that brought Angeline to Le Revenant.”
“No, but you’re the reason she’s here.” He crossed his arms over his chest, glowering at his son. “You’re her alimèt, and you’ve been pushing her away. There’s only so much she can take before she comes looking for you.”
“I needed some time to think!” Power rippled through Etie’s voice.
“Liar.” Henri stepped closer, undeterred by his son’s anger. “You were hiding because you didn’t want to face what you almost did.”
My stomach clenched remembering the moment Etie began to call an entire army of vivankòs from the grave.
Etie’s jaw clenched. “You don’t know anything. You have no right—”
“I have every right to make sure you don’t screw it up.” Henri’s nostrils flared. “I was a part of binding your souls, and I’ll be damned if you ruin it.” He jerked his chin toward me. “You keep pushing her away and all you’ll do is make the darkness grow. And this time, you can’t blame me for it.”
Etie’s gaze lowered to the dirty street.
“And you.” Henri turned his attention to the brujo quietly standing next to me. “You know how stupid you were to bring Evangeline here? She’s just learning to control her powers. Any one of those beings could have sensed what she was.”
Lucas gave a curt nod, his expression solemn. “I take full responsibility for it.”
Henri rubbed his temples, shaking his head at the three of us. “Take Evangeline home, Étienne. And you, brujo, you’re with me. I’ll take you back to the De la Mora’s house.”
Lucas’s soft eyes landed on me, reluctant to leave.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
Etie scoffed. “I’m her alimèt, remember? She’s safe with me.”
“Your recent behavior begs to differ,” Lucas snapped.
“Stop it, both of you.” This did not need to turn into another witch, voodoo caster pissing contest. I turned to Etie. “Let’s go.”
He mumbled a few choice words in French under his breath and marched off.
Oh great. I was going to be stuck in a confined space with this Etie. If there wasn’t candy in that truck, I was going to have a long, bumpy ride home.
Chapter 23
Fat drops of rain pounded Etie’s truck as he drove through the dark road back to Carrefour. He hadn’t said a word since we left, his jaw clenched and eyes glaring out the windshield. I sat as far from him in the cab as possible, my arms crossed against my chest. I was glad to be back with him, but Étienne Benoit was as stubborn as they came.
His fingers flexed on the stirring wheel, and his mouth finally came unhinged. “I don’t know what’s worse, you coming to Le Revenant or you coming with him.”
“Lucas and I are just friends,” I said for the umpteenth time.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips. “You can’t be that naïve, Angeline. I know you’re not like Marisol, but you have to know when a guy wants to get you in bed.” He cracked his neck, and a wave of angry energy pulsed from him. “He already crawled into your bed when you were asleep. Had I not showed up, what would he have done while you laid there unconscious?”
My cheeks flamed. Part of me wanted to hide under the seat, the other part wanted to smack him for what he was insinuating. “Lucas would never take advantage of me,” I ground out. “He’s a nice guy.”
“He’s not as nice as you think,” he snapped, his hands tightening on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. “I see the way he looks at you. He’d jump at the chance to steal you from me.”
“That’s not true.” A fist knotted in my chest. Was I wrong about Lucas? Was this more than Etie simply being jealous?
Etie suddenly swerved onto the shoulder, yanking me out of my battling thoughts. He slammed on the breaks and cursed, slapping the dashboard.
“What the hell!” My heart was lodged in my throat. “Why did you do that?”
“Don’t tell me you’re not attracted to him,” he growled. “I’ve seen you two laughing together like you have some big, secret joke between you.”
My jaw dropped. How could Etie think I wanted anyone other than him? Most people, including Lucas, barely registered on my radar when he was around. I was lost in him, constantly mesmerized by those mismatched orbs. My soul wept when he was gone and sang when he was near. Even now when we were fighting, some part of me couldn’t bear to be separated.
And that made his accusation sting that much more.
“You’re out of your mind, Étienne Benoit.” Unshed tears burned in my eyes, threatening to spill over any second. I ripped the seatbelt off and pushed the door open, rain already splashing my legs.
“Fèmen.” The door slammed shut before I could escape. “You’re not going anywhere.” His deep voice ominously curled through the cab.
I whipped around. “Let me out of here or I’ll make you regret it.” My powers began to seep out, pops of electricity hovering around me.
“You’re threatening me with magic, yeah?” An unnatural glow illuminated his eyes, lighting up the cab. “Did that brujo teach you defensive spells?”
Defensive spells? Were we at magic school now?
I tossed my hands in the air. “You are impossible! How are we even bound? All we ever seem to do is fight and—”
Etie moved before I could react, his mouth crashing on mine and stealing the words right off my tongue.
Damn it. He’d flipped the personality switch back to the Cajun Casanova. This side of him was deadlier than all the others.
Sparks crackled between us and tingles ricocheted down my spine. The unexpected contact sent my heart into a frantic gallop.
“I’m sorry, cher.” His husky whisper made my insides melt. “I know I’ve been stupid.”
I sighed against him. “So stupid.” My lips brushed over his again, desperate to taste that sweet flavor. I needed a fix.
“My mind has been so mixed up. The darkness was too thick and…” His fingers skimmed over my neck
, brushing my toujou. “I know you’d never betray me. It doesn’t matter if that witch wants you. He can’t have something that doesn’t belong to him.”
For weeks, I’d fought Etie’s claim on me, denied it to others and to myself. It was a futile battle. I was his as much as he was mine. It had been that way even before our souls were fused together. The gwo-bon lyen was secondary to this aching need we shared.
Our fates had been sealed a long time ago. Maybe it was the moment our eyes connected when I’d snuck into his swamp looking for help. Or maybe it went all the way back to when I struck a deal with the voodoo king.
The when and how didn’t matter. Neither did the why. We were it for each other. No other person in the world understood me like he did and vice versa. No one even came close.
Thunder rumbled outside, and lightning flashed. The storm was as tumultuous as the inside of this cab. One minute we were at each other’s throats and the next we were struggling not to tear off our clothes.
“You forgive me, Angeline?” Desperation rang through his husky whisper.
“Yeah.” My brain wasn’t capable of forming more than one word.
Etie’s tongue slipped inside my mouth, giving me what I was craving. Mirrored moans spilled from us. My body had been aching and my nerves frayed. Too much time had passed since we touched.
Never again.
My fingers slipped into the silky hair at his nape, pressing us closer. “Don’t stop,” I murmured.
My plea had snapped something inside Etie, a dam splintering and allowing his desire to burst through. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” The cool leather of the bench seat rose up beneath me as he laid me back. His eyes were glowing, one a scorching emerald flame, the other a blue ocean of fire. “I missed you too damn much.” He ran kisses along my neck, his warm breath dusting over me.
My pulse quivered, and every vein filled with lava. “Étienne, please.” I didn’t know what I was begging for, but apparently he did.
He lifted his shirt off, tossing it on the floor of the truck. Tan, ripped muscles pressed down on me as he lowered his body over mine. His skin was blazing hot. Our erratic, heavy breaths filled the cab, mixing with the rhythmic pelting of rain against glass and metal.
The storm emulated the atmosphere in the car, growing wilder with each passing second. Were we influencing it?
Etie’s hands roamed over my curves, slow and languid and then frantic and firm. He nibbled on my bottom lip and soothed it with a flick of his tongue. Tingles radiated deep in my body, coiling and twisting until I could hardly think.
And the thoughts that did pierce the fog, they alone made me blush.
“Let’s never fight again,” Etie murmured, his words vibrating on my neck. He gently sucked my flesh, pulling a gasp from me. “Or let’s fight just to make up.”
As long as he didn’t stop what he was doing, I didn’t care.
Etie pushed my shirt up and over my head, the steamy air rushing across the skin my bra didn’t cover. His burning gaze lingered over my bare stomach and my cleavage, making me feel as if I was completely naked.
Why did he always have that effect on me?
A deep growl rumbled in his chest as he lowered, spreading kisses across my collarbone. Each one left a scorching reminder behind. His mouth traveled further, caressing my curves and skimming my stomach.
I arched into him, pleading for more. My mark tingled and pulsated, doing a happy dance we were together again.
“Angeline, you make me so damn crazy.” His hot breath created a fire over my lower belly. “I can’t go one minute without thinking about you.” His hands squeezed my hips. “Without thinking of the way you feel, the way you sound.” He licked my feverish skin. “The way you taste.”
I was melting into the damn seat. Literally. The air was so hot, steam clouded the windows. I was talking full-on Titanic style. But Rose and Jack had nothing on this bruja and voodoo caster.
Etie covered my body with his, branding my mouth with a kiss once again. The Cajun Casanova had yanked sense and reason out of me, shattering it along with my inhibitions. We were in a truck on the side of the road getting seriously hot and heavy, and I didn’t give a damn.
His rough hand gripped my thigh, wrapping my leg around his waist and lowering all of his delicious weight onto me.
A long groan mingled between us, and his pleasure mixed with mine through the gwo-bon lyen. Fireworks sparked deep inside, ready to explode any moment. The atmosphere sizzled and crackled. The scent of smoke suddenly permeated the air.
Etie’s head whipped toward the dashboard, and he cursed. His hand shot out. “Alsus.”
I blinked, trying to comprehend what was happening, but all I could think about was the sexy creature above me.
Etie’s chest rapidly rose and fell, matching the motion of mine. “Shit, cher. You almost fried the engine.”
“Oh.” It took a moment for his words to sink in. “Sorry?”
He glanced back at me, a sexy half smile curling his lips. “We should probably continue this later—preferably not around electronics.” He pulled me up, the reluctance visible in his eyes as they slowly trailed down my half-naked torso.
I grabbed my shirt off the floor and yanked it over my head. Reality slowly began to seep back in. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, swallowing around the sudden lump in my throat.
Etie’s flesh disappeared behind his shirt. “You already said that.” He winked the blue eye.
I shook my head. “I mean about last night—what my powers did to you.”
His expression sobered, and he glanced out the window, staring at the thick curtain of rain. “It ain’t your fault, cher. I should have had better control.”
“It is my fault, Etie.” I brushed the tangled hair from my face. “My powers touched your dark ones. Being connected to me makes your struggle with the balance of light and dark much harder than it already is.” I bit my lip to mask the trembling. “We’re probably the worst two people to be bound.”
Lucas’s story about his arranged sort of fiancée replayed through my mind. He said the girl had chosen the worst person to be with. It looked like she and Etie had something in common.
“No, cher.” Etie’s fingers gently gripped my chin, turning me toward him. “You are the best person for me.” He scooted closer, his wild herbal scent swirling around me. “You’re the only one in this entire world that can stand up to me. You’re the only one who can handle what and who I am.”
“But I’m a conduit,” I muttered. “I’ll either keep strengthening your powers, making you fight harder to maintain the balance, or I’ll borrow them and lose control myself.”
His other hand skimmed over my mark. “We’ll figure this out, Angeline. Our magic will work together. I promise.” His lips softly brushed over mine in a sweet, aching kiss. “You’re perfect for me, in every single way.”
I kissed him back, leaning into him to borrow some of his strength. If Etie was so certain, maybe he was right. He’d lived in this world of magic a lot longer than me. I had to believe we could make it work. I needed to believe it.
Chapter 24
Etie’s fingers trailed down my spine, spawning shivers over my body. Or that might have been the things his tongue was doing to my mouth. Call it making up for lost time. But we probably shouldn’t have been kissing so passionately on my front porch in the early morning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ms. Unrue drove by and a tawdry story about us ended up on the front page of the Carrefour newspaper.
“I really don’t want to go, cher,” he murmured against my lips. His cherry-scented breath warmed my face. “I’d rather stay with you all day.” Those scorching eyes made my heart race. “Finding different ways to make you blush.”
A languid sigh slipped out. “I’d prefer that too.”
I’d spent the night at Etie’s. Neither of us had been willing to separate. When I woke up this morning—besides that delightful hum in my body—I also felt Etie’s balance had been re
stored. The darkness receded, and the light was shining again.
It was a welcomed relief. He was back to being the annoying, overprotective Cajun Casanova I couldn’t get enough of.
“Are you sure you have to go?” I asked.
He glanced at the ceiling and groaned. “Yes, and you’re making it so much harder than it should be.”
I snorted on a laugh.
His head lowered, his eyes narrowing playfully. “I promised a friend in LaSalle Parish I’d help him. I can’t back out now.”
“I know.” My fingers glided over the back of his neck, toying with his silken hair.
“Hmm. That feels good.” His lids dropped, and he rolled his shoulders. “I’m going to finish the repairs on his restaurant today, even if I have to work all night. I should be back sometime in the early morning.”
“Are you going to come straight here?” I continued to breathe him in, committing that wild scent to memory—as if it already wasn’t.
One of his lids cracked open. “You inviting me?”
I shrugged. “You’d still come anyway.”
A half smile tugged at his lips. “True.” He sighed, his reluctance audible. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Okay.” I did not want to let him go. It was ridiculous.
His hands tightened on my hips, and he drew me closer, my body molding against his. “Angeline, I just want you to know…” He swallowed hard, and the vein in his neck throbbed erratically. “I want you to know that I lo—”
The front door yanked open, cutting off the rest of his words.
Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod… Was he about to tell me he loved me?
I peered over my shoulder, shooting my mother an incredulous expression.
“Come inside, Angel.” Her hazel eyes narrowed at the nonexistent space between Etie and me.
This again? I thought she was over my relationship with Etie. My training with Lucas had appeased her until now.
I turned back to my soul mate. “I’ll see you later.”
His lips brushed over mine again. “I’ll hurry.”